Changes in PM2.5-related health burden in China's poverty and non-poverty areas during 2000-2020: A health inequality perspective

Yan Li; Baojie Li; Hong Liao; Bing-Bing Zhou; Jing Wei; Yuxia Wang; Yuzhu Zang; Yang Yang; Rui Liu; Xiaorui Wang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160517

Changes in PM_2.5-related health burden in China's poverty and non-poverty areas during 2000-2020: A health inequality perspective

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Feb 25:861:160517. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160517. Epub 2022 Dec 2.

Authors

Yan Li¹, Baojie Li², Hong Liao¹, Bing-Bing Zhou³, Jing Wei⁴, Yuxia Wang⁵, Yuzhu Zang⁶, Yang Yang¹, Rui Liu¹, Xiaorui Wang⁷

Affiliations

¹ Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China.
² Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China. Electronic address: baojieli@nuist.edu.cn.
³ School of International Affairs and Public Administration, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
⁴ Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States.
⁵ School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China.
⁶ School of Public Administration, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China.
⁷ Jiangsu Provincial Land Development and Consolidation Center, Nanjing 210017, China.

PMID: 36464040
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160517

Abstract

China suffers from severe PM_2.5 pollution that has resulted in a huge health burden. Such PM_2.5-related health burden has long been suspected to differ between China's poverty-stricken areas (PAs) and non-poverty-stricken areas (NPAs). Yet, evidence-based examination of this long-held belief, which is critical as a barrier of environmental injustice to advancing China's sustainability, is still missing. Here our study shows that the PM_2.5 pollution is more serious in China's NPAs than PAs-with their annual averages being respectively 54.83 μg/m³ and 43.63 μg/m³-causing higher premature mortality in the NPAs. Compared to economic inequality, China's total PM_2.5-related premature mortality was relatively evenly distributed during 2000-2015 across regions of varying levels of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita but increased slightly in 2015-2020 owing to the dramatic change in age structure. The elderly population increased by 31 %. PM_2.5-related premature deaths were more severe for populations of low socioeconomic status, and such environmental health inequalities could be amplified by population aging. Additionally, population migration from China's PAs to developed cities contributed to 638, 779, 303, 954, and 896 premature deaths in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020, respectively. Changes in the age structure (53 %) and PM_2.5 concentration (28 %) had the greatest impact on premature deaths, followed by changes in population (12 %) and baseline mortality (8 %). The contribution rate of changes in the age structure and PM_2.5 concentration was higher in PAs than in NPAs. Our findings provide insight into PM_2.5-related premature death and environmental inequality, and may inform more equitable clean air policies to achieve China's sustainable development goals.

Keywords: Environmental inequality; Health burden; Migration; PM(2.5); Poverty area.

MeSH terms

Aged
Air Pollutants* / analysis
Air Pollution* / analysis
China / epidemiology
Cities
Health Status Disparities
Humans
Particulate Matter / analysis

Substances

Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter